I recently participated in strategic discussions with several successful remodeling company owners. Their businesses achieve results that are double those of most remodeling companies. The owners have these traits in common:

  • Business-building. These remodelers have a passion for it — not for design, not construction, not building buildings. These owners want to build large, profitable businesses, and they score their success on the elements that business owners in every industry use: profitability, customer satisfaction, unique company culture, and a team of superstars. Excellent customer service; best practices; and having professional, knowledgeable team members are a given. This allows the business owner to dedicate more time to work on the business, test new ways to improve results, diversify service offerings, and expand territories.
  • Lifestyle choices. They believe that one of the major reasons for building a business is to allow an owner to live the life that he or she chooses. They know how much money they need for themselves and their families and they create a business plan that will deliver this income and support the infrastructure needed to allow them the freedom to embrace outside-of-the-business activities.
  • Investor obligations. Many of the most profitable owners imagine themselves reporting to a group of investors. They know that investors focus on ROI, so these entrepreneurs make sure that their business delivers on this important metric. By maintaining this discipline, they are able to make decisions that produce results.
  • Sales focus. By regularly bringing trainers into their offices and investing in a variety of sales training tools, these owners make a continued investment in sales training and education. They focus on finding the right people, keeping the best, creating a win-win compensation structure, and helping these important employees hone their skills.
  • Wealth-building. These owners have invested profits to deliver a greater return on investment than they would receive through basic saving-type accounts. For some, the purchase of the office building in which the business operates was the first step. Others have built commercial space that they now lease to other small businesses. Still others have invested in rental properties, developing an attractive portfolio of homes and apartments that continually produce revenue.

Participating in the meeting with this smart group of people brought to mind this quote I saw online: “Successful people associate with people who are like-minded, focused, and supportive. They socialize with people who create energy when they enter the room versus those who create energy when they leave. They reach out to connected, influential individuals who are right for their dreams and goals.” The upshot of this is: Hang out with the right people and you’ll become far more capable and successful than you ever could have been alone.

—Victoria Downing is president of Remodelers Advantage.

Related articles:

Blogger Bruce Case on “Succes Redefined”

A Framework for Success: Teachable traits that every remodeling company must embrace

Blogger Greg Antonioli on Passive/Lazy or In-Control/Successful? Your Choice